Censorship, A World Without Secrets By Peter Singer

Beginning in 2001 Intelligence about the impending nature of an attack was increasing, not only from US Intelligence sources but also from 11 other countries such as Britain, Israel, India, Egypt, Morocco and even a top Taliban commander from Afghanistan (Thompson.) Beginning in August warnings become coming in from everywhere, foreign governments, CIA and FBI sources and so on however, next to none of this information was shared between the many intelligence agencies. In April, NORAD launched a training scenario in which the pentagon was to be incapacitated by a hijacked airliner however the Joint Chiefs of Staff disregarded the scenario as “too unrealistic” (September 11 attacks advance-knowledge debate.) On august 19th the Israeli’s gave US intelligence personnel credible information including, the list of 19 suspected terrorist’s names and the fact that a large aircraft would be the primary weapon involved. The names were not shared by the CIA with other intelligence agencies (Robinson.)

America has long been hailed as “The Land of Opportunity”. The nation has drawn refugees and immigrants from all over for more than two hundred years. However, as our country has expanded and the population diversified, we are facing more issues than ever before. From Women’s rights to voting rights and issues regarding National Security, the government and the people are rarely in agreement. One issue that has been heavily debated is the people’s right to privacy. This issue in particular brings forth a whole host of questions. Is privacy actually a “right” as defined in the constitution? Or can the government pervade its people’s private lives as it so pleases? Should the government have easy access to everything about you, such to

September 11, 2001 began as a beautiful day with a clear blue sky, yet today people recognize it as “the single largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack”(September 11, 2001 2016). These attacks conducted by the terrorist group, Al Qaeda, killed thousands of people and left their loved ones shocked and devastated. At first, the people thought the plane crashing into one of the twin towers was just an accident; it was not until the second collision that people realized America was truly under attack. Though this tragedy lasted only a day, people continue to feel the effects 15 years later, and most likely will in the future. After this terrible day, the security at many places– such as airports –was strengthened greatly. Many people, however, continue to live with the looming fear that another tragedy like this may recur. The attacks of September 11, 2001 greatly affected my mother, Anita Kaplan, because after that tragic day, she became paranoid in regards to the safety of her and her family, afraid to travel on airplanes, and more aware of both the world news and her surroundings.

National security became the ground breaking concern in the United States after the tragic events unfolded on September 11, 2001. Many questions were brought to the attention of the public eye, such as why the September 11 attacks weren’t diffused prior to the deaths of

We always had a communication issue between agencies, but when 9/11 happened it showed us just how much we needed to change how these organizations communicate, as well as change certain policies that would address these issues. Because of the lack of communication, and new requirement for terrorist attacks which can happen at any time or anywhere, this was a very harsh lesson to learn, at that pivotal time. The CIA, the FBI, and other agencies did not share all the chatter, from another terrorist or want to be terrorist. Therefore, this power point will address why this topic was chosen as an influential event, and the impact this event had on the ICS (Incident Command

On September 11th nearly 3,000 people died. It has been 15 years, the world is still working to move past the tragedy. It brought the whole world to come out to sympathize with the tragedy. The society has faced a lot of impacts since fifteen years. A few major impacts are the ongoing wars, physical health issues, trust issues, and bigger scale of surveillance. Before the attack, not many people knew about al-Qaeda or Osama bin Laden, and ISIS didn’t exist. According to the research, U.S has deported fifty percent people more than what it used. Also, the surveillance security has increased at the airports and rush cities. The U.S. government took many steps to make the country safer. They tightened security at airports and in public buildings. The Department of

On September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda operatives executed a violent and lethal terrorist attack against the United States. The attacks against the north and south towers of the World Trade Center, United Airlines flight 93, and the Pentagon, have collectively been deemed the deadliest terrorist attack to take place on American soil in the history of the United States. The appalling attacks against New York City and the nation’s capital triggered an immediate assessment of the intelligence community, existing anti-terrorism policies and methodologies, and the overall structure of the United States intelligence community. More specifically, the federal government began to assess its existing capabilities to ensure domestic homeland security and enhance the security posture of the United States. An array of after-action reports indicated that communication and collaboration between varying government agencies was limited and very difficult to navigate. More specifically, intelligence agencies were extremely restricted and compartmentalized and as a result of such lapses, Al Qaeda was successful in their attack planning and execution. Although there has been a recognizable improvement in communication throughout the intelligence community, the United States must evolve and

September 11 called for massive reforms for the IC. One of the biggest barriers to circumventing the attack was not being able to connect the dots because federal agencies did not talk to state and local agencies and vice versa. We needed significant change and that happened with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and revamping of FBI intelligence gathering. Now that all the agencies at all levels of government work together and filter information through fusion centers the intelligence gathered is a lot. This brings up the issue of if civil liberties are being violated gathering useless information (Burch, 2010).

What is privacy? Is it the ability to be in a situation which allows you to do things without other people seeing you or disturbing you? If it is, then it is always being violated by new and upcoming technologies. One of many technologies that are challenging privacy is NSA Phone tapping. NSA Phone tapping is a program that allows a person to monitor whom a person calls and when a person calls. This program started in 1952 but required a warrant to spy on Americans. After the attacks on the twin towers The white house asked the NSA what they could do to protect American while still being legal. The White house allowed the NSA to track Americans calling a person from Afghanistan. The NSA believed they were authorized to track domestic phone calls and emails, eventually the attorney general decided the program was legal. Only recently when Edward Snowden exposed the NSA of their wicked doings there has been an unrest among Americans. N and advancing technologies such as NSA phone tapping has certainly negatively affected privacy in this era because it causes the citizen’s moral to be low, it can be obtained by bad people and it's ineffective.

Even now – after all of the revelations by Edward Snowden and other whistle-blowers – spying apologists say that the reports are “exaggerated” or “overblown”, and that the government only spies on potential bad guys. In reality, the government is spying on everyone’s digital and old-fashioned communications. For example, the government is photographing the outside information on every piece of snail mail. The government is spying on you through your phone … and may even remotely turn on your camera and microphone when your phone is off.

In recent history, one extremely controversial case of whistleblowing has been the government leaks caused by Edward Snowden, in which he exposed secret documents from the National Security Agency (NSA), for the entire world to see. The information he released revealed that the communication records of millions of Americans have been kept, whether or not these people had been involved with any suspicious activity (Greenwald). Snowden felt he was justified in releasing the documents, under his belief that collecting private information about innocent citizens is malpractice and that it violates the ideals of democracy (Snowden). This particular example of whistleblowing has been largely disputed among all types of people, from leaders of countries, to CEOs and workers at technology companies, to everyday Americans wondering just how much information the government has filed on them. This enormous controversy can be best understood by recognizing the two principle factors that have lead to dispute.

The United States is a nation that was established on several major guiding principles, including freedom, independence, and democracy. These guiding principles have become synonymous with American culture and have helped the nation prosper deeply since its dawn in 1776. One of the major core principles of the American culture that has come into question recently is privacy. Government agencies have begun pushing the boundaries of personal privacy through the justification of hoping to ensure national security. By keeping records of phone transactions, and personal messages, the National Security Agency and its supporters, argue that they are simply making an effort to prevent domestic terrorist activity. However, I would argue that the government's

The most important job of government is to “secure the general welfare” of its citizens. Security is a common good that is promised to all Americans, and it must outweigh any personal concerns about privacy. The right to privacy lie behind the 4th Amendment to the Constitution, which bans unreasonable “search and seizure”. When the government collects and shares information about its citizens, it is conducting an electronic version of such banned searches. Surveillance is the secret watching of suspects’ private activities. In the past this usually involved following people, or going through their trash. These days it is mostly electronic, with the police and intelligence agencies listening into private phone conversations or reading emails

Intelligence was known about the terrorist locations. The article by Jones brings attention to the laws of government agencies sharing information between themselves. In reference to the 9/11 Commission Report it was recommended that more sharing of information take place. Suggesting that this would allow agencies to work together more cohesively. Allowing a larger spectrum to be aware of important aspects of watched individuals, groups, cells, militia, etc. The author, Jones, outlines advantages of agencies both local, state, and federal working together. He puts insight on the history of sharing information before 9/11, and after September 11th. The changes that were brought as a result of the attacks are reviewed as well. Each individual intelligence agency can be applauded for the information they have individually collected. The information is sorted, stored, and then becomes what? A notch in the belt of the agency? A job well done of sorts. “The 9/11 Commission Report recommended there be “unity of effort” in the sharing of intelligence” (Jones, 2011).

9/11 accomplishment is not how many people they had killed, but is terrifying people through all the reports and images of the attacks and changing the way many people throughout the world live (Philip M Seib and Dana M. Janbekb,2011). People have the right to know what is happening in this world. Journalists have the responsibility to explain so that the news consumers would be able to build their understanding of issues. However, if the news coverage about terrorist acts take up too much space, people’s fear will be promoted. This might scare people away from certain activities, such as using public transports, traveling by air, and traveling to certain countries in Middle East.